I think for YOU- since you only have 2 kids and I'm assuming they are still young, I'd stay in the house you have. It would suck to buy a house, then move (for job, etc) within a relatively short time. Not a wise financial move IMO. But when/if you move for job/whatever nothing stopping you from a larger house . Especially if you plan for more kids. I don't think 3,000 sq ft home is necessary but maybe 1800 sq ft or at least a better layout

Yes, my kids are still young, and I have to admit that I am leaning this way as well. I just feel as though our life is on hold a bit as we have talked about moving for years now, but haven't made a move. After living here for seven years, though, I do finally feel as though this is my home, not just a first home picked out by my husband. My daughter started preschool here in town this year, and we have found that we love her teacher and the great school system in this small town. If we were to move locally to a larger home I feel like I would now actually like to stay in our town (I didn't feel that way a few years ago)

I appreciate everyone's responses. It's always great to hear second opinions, even from strangers. I am certainly not a true minimalist, but have been inspired to try to simplify my home and life a lot more after becoming a part of this forum. This year I am planning to take on the 2,013 purge challenge, and really try to clear the clutter. I think that perhaps finishing our basement would be a great idea for us. My husband talked about that project years ago, long before we had kids, and I didn't think it was important. Now I am banging my head that I didn't listen to him back then!

I love our house, it was built in 1880 and it has tons of character, some beautiful old woodwork, and neat features. But it's such a pain in the butt. There's no first floor bathroom, but we spend most of time on the first floor, so going to the bathroom with two little kids (including a 2 1/2 year old who can't be trusted alone with the baby) is annoying. The floors, while beautiful, are very creaky and make too much noise when it comes to having sleeping babies and toddlers. The basement is very... "basementy," so it's just for storage. There's no garage.

I would love a one story home. I always thought I'd want two stories, but if we had a nice, open one story with a finished basement and attached garage, I'd be in heaven. And a nice, flat backyard with a privacy fence. We have a large backyard, but I'd take one half the size if it wasn't obnoxiously overly landscaped and hard to maintain.

Our house is a bit over 1700 square feet, but the layout makes it feel like we've already outgrown it as a family of four. I love it, but I hate stuff about it. We don't plan on keeping it for more than a few more years.

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Mommy to Grant (July 2010) and Greta (July 2012)

I purged 2,920 items in 2012 and 2,014 items in 2013.2,014 items in 2014?

I have a family if four in about 1200 sq ft. Two bedroom one bath. In ok with the size but the layout is horrible. It's over 100 years old and its been added on and added on. Plus I'm an artist and I homeschool. And did I mention three dogs. Two cats and a turtle?? Yea it's cramped.

The house itself would probably be a great size if I had a studio or garage to get all if my art stuff out if here. And a second bathroom would be nice. I would probably invest in making it more what I want but I'd rather have a different location so I'm just doing the best I can for a while.

What I meant to say... I think it's not just size but rather the layout of a home that decides whether it's roomy enough.

Even though there are things I dislike, I also try to focus on what I *do* like. Even though we do plan on moving after awhile, I know it is a way's away so I am doing my best to make this house OURS and enjoy it while we can. I will miss it when we sell, and I think I'll actually like it a bit more once our kids aren't quite so young. But there are things that we'll never get to have here that I want for our kids as they get older. Until then, though, we'll do what we can and appreciate what we have.

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Mommy to Grant (July 2010) and Greta (July 2012)

I purged 2,920 items in 2012 and 2,014 items in 2013.2,014 items in 2014?

We have 1600 square feet, unfinished basement, unfinished walk-up attic, no garage, 4 people and our family is complete. We really want a garage, but the space itself is pretty perfect for us. It seemed a little congested for awhile w/ all of the baby gear, but once DD outgrew that and we turned our dining room into a play room, it's great. Location, not so great, but size is just right for us. OK, I still want an office/guest room combo, but that's a small complaint. My friend has 700 sq ft (I think) and 3 people and it's just too cramped for them. They struggle to store stuff (even getting rid of stuff they're pretty sure they'll need later b/c there's just no where to put it) and want a bigger place. Since we have space, my husband can't comprehend why I want to minimize, but it's b/c I love seeing empty space, having room to run inside and not feeling stressed by too much stuff. If I were you, I'd stick to the same house. But, I'm not you. If you prefer to see more empty space, maybe continue minimizing belongings or buy a bigger place.

2 actual bedrooms so we could feel as if we could have another baby (or 1 if the bedrooms were bigger)...right now we have 3 rooms...and the smallest is just enough for dd and her full bed and dresser. 1 other room (could be an a actual bedroom or just a finished room in a basement so that I could have room for my growing eBay business.

I don't think that a 1400 square foot house with a 2 car garage and a full basement is small.....In fact to me it sounds like you have a lot of space! I would love to have a garage and basement.

We have a 1250 square foot house. We have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. We have 3 bedrooms, and the kids each have their own room. The only problem with our house is that it means we have NO room for an office area...or a mudroom area...or any space for a treadmill....but we adapt. I bought a tiny compact elliptical (it only holds your feet!) and it slides under the bed. I have storage on several of our doors - such as an ironing board on the laundry door. I have a shoe rack on the coat closet door. Mirror and hat hanger on the bedroom closet door. I have used the inside of cabinets in the kitchen to their full potential - I painted one with chalkboard paint. One has a folder attached to the door for menus and coupons. You have to make your space work for you. We have a small attic and that is our only storage area since we have no garage or basement. We have a small shed outside that houses only the lawn mower and a small deep freezer.

Honestly, I am sure we could have at least 1 more child probably 2 more children without it being terribly cramped in here. You just have to minimize the stuff you own and maximize your organization!

In my opinion if you think you need MORE SPACE - then you probably need LESS STUFF.

ITA to agree with this. Only because you just have two kids now, no current plans for another, and you *could* make the basement into a playroom, you might move out of state, and the real state market is not ideal for selling right now. IDK the ages/genders of your kids, but it may also be possible to put them both in one bedroom and make the other a playroom. I totally get wanting to pick out a new home that you have input in, but I think it would be better to wait until the job situation and number of kids is finalized, and/or the market is better.

I agree that it sounds unwise to move if you are planning to move again in the next 5-10 years. The idea of making one of the bedrooms into a play room sounds like a great plan to me! We love having our 2 kids in one room. You could even do that temporarily while you finish the basement. That would add a lot of space to your home.

If you do decide you want to stay in your area permanently, like you mentioned in a later post, then moving to a bigger house sounds reasonable. Personally, I would probably stay though because I love to save money and I hate moving! Lol! Good luck with your decision!

kinda torn on this one. we lived in a 500 square foot apartment (1 bedroom) with 7 of us while our current home was being finished. I loved it. we had to pay all things down that we absolutely needed and had no toys. there are toy rental things at the public schools in the city we were in. so we would rent new toys every Friday on our way to the laundry mat. they we're even quite at the laundry mat because they had me things everything's we went.

now we have 3k ft plus plans to finish our walk out and that will add another 1400 feet. I feel we don't have enough room now, I think we have to much stuff . and have become ungrateful for the space we have and haven't gotten creative like we used to. also I miss us being as close as we were, . and even hearing them breathe at night like when we had to share our room with everyone.

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Married to a real life Prince Charming Ultra conservative hippy saved by graceA thrifty housewife is better than a great incomeCan't forget my 6 lil blessings!!!

Our house is a 800sqft 2 bedroom, 1 bath bungalow with an unfinished basement. We are a family of four. Our boys (2.5yrs & 8 mths) share the larger room and all toys & clothing fit into in 3 ft wide closet & a small three drawer dresser.
Love the size of our house, fast to clean! We have plans to finish our basement and in a few years we plan on adding an attached garage.
All of our friends have larger homes but they always seem full to the brim with stuff! I find it distracting and not at all relaxing.

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Kris~SAHM, wife to K and lucky mama to 2 boys! DS1 6.2010, DS2 4.2012
Living the simple life and loving it!